Digital Photography

Cameras

My current camera is a Canon 20D digital SLR, which is absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Note that the 20D is no longer the "latest model". Instead, I'd recommend looking at:

• Canon 40D. This is the successor to the 20D (through the 30D model, announced in '06).
• Canon XTi. This is the successor to the Canon Digital Rebel.

Incidentally, when you buy an SLR you are not buying a camera; you are buying a lens system. If you are remotely serious, you will quickly spend more on lenses than you did on the camera. New technologies will make you want to upgrade your camera every 2-5 years, but your "glass" (lenses) will continue to work well for many years.

Here are the lenses I have (all Canon):

Lens	Comments
EF-S 17-85MM	A good general purpose lens -- I use this lens the most. Comes in a "kit" with the body. Image stabilized. Cons: somewhat slow, and not for full frame sensors.
EF 15mm f/2.8	Fisheye.
EF 50mm f/1.4	The second lens I bought. With the 20D's low light (ISO 1600) performance, this fast lens can shoot nice pictures in very low light.
EF 100m f/2.8	Macro lens.
EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS	This is my favorite lens. Relatively fast, image stablized, and incredible optics (Canon's L series). Not small, not lightweight, and not cheap.

The only two SLR choices are: Canon and Nikon. Nikon's D200 is quite nice, and probably has a slight edge on Canon's latest.

I would not recommend investing in any other system; these two have the critical mass in the market.

Tripods & Heads

I highly recommend the CT-3301N carbon fiber tripod from FEISOL.

I'm quite happy with FIESOL. The "trim" isn't quite as fancy as the brand-name tripods, but it's quite functional at a fraction of the price ($170). I ordered mine direct from Taiwan, and for about $33 shipping it arrived in about a week.

My only complaint is about the center column; you have to torque it down very tightly to prevent the column from rotating in the tripod mount.

Note that you still need a head on the tripod to mount the camera.

I initially got the Bogen/Manfrotto BO 3047 3-way pan/tilt head. It was about $90 from B&H, but that model no longer appears available. Later, I got the BH-55 ballhead from Really Right Stuff [1]. The BH-55 is a beautiful piece of metal and is widely considered to be the best ballhead available. It costs ~20% more than comparable ballheads from other companies, but it is worth every penny!

Printing

I own a photo printer (a Canon i950), but more and more I'm recommending and using photo printing services. My current favorite is Costco, as they finally enabled their on-line service in mid-2005.

Why?

• Cost. Using a print service like Costco is almost always cheaper than printing at home yourself. (Costco currently charges 14 cents for a 4x6 print, and only $3 for a 12x18 print!). Competition is driving the prices down.

• Scale. I can print 500 prints with Costco without much trouble. On my photo printer, that's a bit of a production.

• Durability. Costco's prints are as durable as "regular" photographic prints -- they won't fade in your lifetime. Unless you are using a high-end photo printer, your home-print pictures will fade, sometimes dramatically.

The service is NOT as convenient as printing myself, but it's not bad. In my case, I can submit the prints on-line, leave the house immediately for the Costco that's 10 minutes away, and the prints are usually ready by the time I get there.

I do still use my photo printer, but more for proofs and one-offs.